The present invention relates generally to computational devices, and more particularly, to handheld computational devices having an enhanced user interface that facilitates performing mathematical computations.
The purchase of a real-estate or a personal property (e.g., a house (or other real-estate) or a car) typically requires obtaining a loan for financing the transaction. An individual who faces such a prospect may desire to know the requisite monthly payment associated with a loan borrowed at a prevailing interest rate for a given loan duration. Moreover, such an individual may need to compare monthly payments for loans having different interest rates and/or durations. Alternatively, or in addition, such an individual may desire to know a maximum price that she can afford based, for example, on her income. In other cases, an investor may need to quickly calculate the return on money invested at a given interest rate.
Traditionally, mortgage calculations could be performed by reference to tables that provided a compilation of a set of discrete values corresponding to variables involved in a mortgage computation. The use of such tables, however, is cumbersome. Further, one may need to interpolate between the tabulated values to arrive at the value of a desired variable. With the advent of digital calculators, such computations can be performed by programming a calculator. However, such programming of digital calculators is not only beyond the scope of expertise of many individuals, who may not even know the proper equations to program, but it can also be very time-consuming. More recently, a variety of mortgage calculators can be found on the Internet. However, the use of such calculators require having access not only to a computer but also to the Internet. As such, they can typically be utilized only in an office setting or at home. More significantly, such mortgage calculators generally provide a limited functionality (e.g., they only allow calculating the monthly payment associated with a loan).
Accordingly, there is a need for enhanced computational devices that can be readily utilized in different settings to perform computations, such as those typically required for assessing financial implications of obtaining a loan (e.g., for buying real-estate) and/or investing money.
There is also a need for such computational devices that can be employed by a variety of individuals with minimal training.